Saturday, December 03, 2005

Tribune newspaper staff cuts opposed by MoveOn

Our local media conglomerate, the Tribune Company, has apparently decided that 10-15% operating profits aren't enough for some of their newspapers, notably the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. They are looking for 25% profit margins.

So, they are cutting newspaper staff which means less coverage of government and politics, which means a less informed electorate.

MoveOn.org is sponsoring a petition drive here (sign it now) to call on the Tribune Company to reverse the cuts and invest in more reporters and editors.

The Tribune (through an LA Times article) was good enough to write about the petition drive here, and essentially argued that economic necessity forced these cuts.

At the Chicago Tribune, which recently reduced its editorial staff of more than 600 by 28, Publisher David Hiller said the reductions were similar to those being made at many other newspapers, including those owned by Knight Ridder Inc. and the New York Times Co.

"The necessity to make these cuts is unfortunate, but it's the reality of the marketplace that we are in," Hiller said.


I wonder if that's true. Isn't that what Conrad Black said about staff cuts at the Sun-Times when he was stealing hundreds of millions from Hollinger International? I'm not suggesting that anyone at the Trib is stealing anything, but I am suggesting that if the Trib is generating 10-15% profit margins now, is it really necessary to cut staff?

Of course not -- it's just a question of corporate greed versus civic values. If the managers can squeeze more money out of the papers for the shareholders, then they'll do it, civic consequences be damned.

It's a problem with corporate governance -- the push for shareholder value (making money) trumping every other value (democracy, education, and other non-money-making things that make our country great).

Here's the MoveOn email that makes the case on the numbers. The best quote is here:

Steve Wasserman, a former deputy opinion editor at the Chicago Tribune's sister paper, the Los Angeles Times, described how the Tribune Company is running journalism into the ground at his former paper:

Tribune Co. insists that the paper deliver annual operating profit margins nearer 25% or 26% than its more customary return of around 15% or 16%. (Last year...the paper reaped an operating profit margin of about 20%, a figure that failed to satisfy the Chicago moneymen.) The paper's top managers and editors are determined to do so or die trying

Maybe a financial guy (Nathan Kaufman?) can dig into the Trib's balance sheet to see whether the Trib is already making a healthy profit on the papers, and now they're just greedily looking to make more at the expense of the rest of us.

I find this frustrating, because I think the Chicago Tribune should be one of the world's best newspapers (that's what Tribune-owned WGN stands for -- World's Greatest Newspaper), and to do that takes bureaus around the globe running original stories, not a collect of AP stories from pages 5 through 12 of the front section. It's frustrating that people who want to read top-notch news can't also read about the Chicago City Council or the Illinois General Assembly, because the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal simply do not have Chicago Metro sections in their papers. If I had my wish, I'd have the Tribune Company decide to make the Chicago Tribune one of the world's premier papers and double the editorial staff. Then maybe they could get away with charging a dollar per print paper instead of 50 cents (as the New York Times does) and they could start charging for some content on their website. Make no little plans, Tribune!

8 comments:

Cal Skinner 12:47 PM  

After establishing its beachhead in McHenry County, the Tribune basically stopped covering most local governmental actions.

Now, our metro section often has 30-40% (by space) obituaries.

Of course, the internet is a big reason that newspapers are on declining.

Anonymous,  2:50 PM  

This doesn't even get into their 'Metro' section which I find to be quite pathetic specifically in regards to their Their suburban coverage.

Through their basic deference to the Daily Herald they are consistently a minimum of one day behind on any story coming out of the suburbs. They have a staff of stringers they use on the cheap who dress like their day job gets them a discount at Wal-Mart.

Anonymous,  2:54 PM  

With a front page that is obviusly printed the night before and carrying only enough news stories to fit in the column space next to the ads, the Trib has John Kass and some excellent special reports to crow about.

Bedtime for the sports department is early, too. If you live in the burbs, don't bother looking for the west coast night game stories.

Bill Baar 9:04 AM  

Col McCormick turning in his Wheaton grave knowing the liberal DJW seeking ways to restore the Trib's greatness.

I'll stick with FDR's outrage over the Trib's publication of FDR's WAR PLANS on Dec 4, 1941 and his order to send in the troops to detain the editorial board FDR's advisors made him back off from.

Let the Trib go.

Anonymous,  8:46 PM  

Dan Johnson Weinberger has no credibility as a progressive once he took the job with Fat Bastard (his real nickname from the Austin Powers TV show) Senator Martin Sandoval who is part of the Hispanic Democratic Organization (HDO). Dan Johnson Weinberger really sold out. Did he need the job that bad.

Making The Wheels Turn 9:08 PM  

If you actually think the LA Times delivered a gross profit margin of around 20% last year, you must be doing some Enron/Worldcom/Global Crossing style accounting.

Ain't no way, no how that happened.

The LA Times 'investment' has been a financial meltdown for the Tribune Company, and with their ongoing loss of readership year after year out on the Left Coast, they are getting nowhere near close to a 20% ROI on invested capital.

I can remember when they made the investment and there were a few (very few) smart investors out there who said that this might not be such a good deal long term, but most of the money people were sheep. Well, the Internet proved those "very few" to be dead on about the potential problems, and it's nowhere near done.

The Tribune does better with the Cubs than they do with the LA Times - at least the Cubs feed product to both WGN Superstation and SportsNet. All the LA Times (& Newsday - can't forget them) brings them is grief and shrinking returns on a large amount of sunk capital.

The real story isn't about the cutbacks - it's about the still ongoing effects of those fake rating/subscriber numbers from 2 years ago, and how that's caused a serious rift with the advertising community (and that's where the real money is, or in this case, ISN'T).

moveon.org is just whining because some of their bud's are getting kicked to the curb in the cutbacks, and those poor babies now have to go out and find useful, productive work. Maybe they can go apply for a grounds crew job with the Cubs organization.

Btw, the only two players I know of who have made any level of success with their web newspaper presence are the Wall Street Journal & the Financial Times. They seem to know how it's done.

Anonymous,  11:40 PM  

Dan Weinberger lost all of his credibility pimping for Sandoval and HDO.

Anonymous,  7:35 AM  

Poor Dan Johnson Weinberger, he has no respect from anyone in the progressive community anymore once he sold out and got pimped for patronage with the Hispanic Daley criminal bunch. I can't believe he is even posting.

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